Three Local KentuckyOne Health Hospitals Receive Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award-- - Archived

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Three Local KentuckyOne Health Hospitals Receive
Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award
American Heart Association recognizes Jewish, Sts. Mary & Elizabeth and University of Louisville hospitals’ commitment to quality stroke care

Louisville, Ky. (May 31, 2017) Jewish Hospital and University of Louisville Hospital, both part of KentuckyOne Health, received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite Plus. Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital received the Stroke Honor Roll Elite award. The awards recognize the hospitals’ commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite or Elite Plus, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. The three KentuckyOne Health hospitals earned the awards by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period.

These quality measures are designed to help hospital teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients.

“It has been well documented by physicians that a patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed,” said Joe Gilene, president, Jewish Hospital and downtown market leader, KentuckyOne Health. “We are committed to delivering the very best stroke care to our patients for quicker recoveries and better outcomes. This award recognizes our commitment.”

“University of Louisville Hospital has been recognized with the Stroke Elite Plus award again as we continue to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients,” said Kerri Remmel, MD, PhD, chair of University of Louisville Department of Neurology, director of University of Louisville Hospital Stroke Center. “This recognition further reinforces the U of L stroke team’s hard work and commitment to caring for patients with stroke.”

In 2004, U of L Hospital became Kentucky’s first Joint Commission-certified Primary Stroke Center and in 2012, the hospital became Kentucky’s first Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center, the 20th in the nation.

“Stroke is 80 percent preventable. High blood pressure, diabetes, cigarette smoking, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation and sedentary life style are treatable/modifiable risk factors. If we could give the community one message for the prevention of stroke, it would be to know your own risk factors and be aggressive about controlling them,” added Remmel.

Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital is proud to receive this award in recognition of our team’s efforts to save lives and reduce the effect of stroke recovery for our patients,” said Jennifer Nolan, president, Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital. “Getting to the emergency room fast so our team can administer the clot-buster tPA will make a huge difference in the patient’s recovery.”

“The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Jewish Hospital, Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital and University of Louisville Hospital for their commitment to stroke care,” said Paul Heidenreich, MD, MS, national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guidelines program.”

Get With The Guidelines®-S puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping hospital care teams ensure the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery time, Get With The Guidelines®-S has impacted more than three million patients since 2003.

According to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.  

In addition to the three KentuckyOne Health hospitals recognized by the AHA, Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington was recognized with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target StrokeSM Honor Roll Elite.


About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health, one of the largest and most comprehensive health systems in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations including, hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.

About Get With The Guidelines®
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with tools and resources to increase adherence to the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 6 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.

 
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